Different tunings are offered for each batch of Halos we make. Retired tunings may or may not return in later batches.
See below for general advice on choosing a tuning.
Note: our sample recordings are improvisations on each Halo as played by Kyle Cox without rehearsal. These are not polished performances, but samples intended to give a sense of how each tuning sounds on an actual shipped Halo. MP3s offer better quality sound than the linked YouTube videos.
These are the tunings that are offered for the Halo Genesis and Halo Stratus for Batch Two. For Batch Two (and most likely, future batches) we selected a small number of tunings to improve our efficiency and to insure that every instrument we make sounds as good as possible. We also chose tunings so that each Halo has a Stratus that compliments it perfectly (and vice versa).
HALO GENESIS TUNINGS
Golden Gate (C) E G B C D F# G Sample: mp3
A wistful major, filled with golden light and the yearning of two major seventh chords. The low E on the tone circle acts as a second tonal center, allowing modulation from E minor to C major. The name was inspired by the heartbreaking site of fog spilling down a pastel hill like an ocean wave in San Francisco, bright white on top, but moody and mysterious underneath.
Ursa Minor (B) F# G B C# D E F# Sample: mp3
A dark, seductive and velvety minor, with a delicious tension in the lowest two notes in the tone circle. Closely related to both the Xiao Xiong Diao and Hijaz tunings from Batch One. The name, which means 'small bear,' is that of the constellation commonly known in the English-speaking world as the Little Dipper. It was chosen to evoke twinkling stars on a winter night.
HALO STRATUS TUNINGS
Ake Bono (F#) B C# D F# G B C# D Sample: mp3 A classic Japanese pentatonic minor, slightly exotic to Western ears, which can be evocative of the Japanese court or temple music, and evoke misty ink and watercolor landscapes. The Ake Bono Stratus compliments the Ursa Minor Halo, and allows for duets with no incompatible notes.
Melog-Selisir (G) B C D F# G B C D Sample: mp3 A classic Indonesian pentatonic major, evocative of gamelan and related popular music from Indonesia. Optimistic and surprisingly uncolored in play, it is among the happiest tuning we have offered so far. It is not wholly dissimilar to the popular Raga Desh and Deshvara tunings. The Melog Stratus compliments the Golden Gate Halo and allows for duets with no incompatible notes.
These are the tunings that were offered for the Halo during Batch One. Initially, only a small number of tunings was available; but as Batch One progressed, more options were added as we experimented with what was possible. Several other tunings not represented here were also made, usually 'one off' experiments or variations.
Click here for a chart of the Batch One scale spellings and more detailed descriptions.
SEVEN-TONE CIRCLE TUNINGS
Minor Pentatonic 9 (C) F Ab Bb C Eb F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Classic minor pentatonic, with a wistful ninth on top. Meditative and forgiving.
Deshvara (C) F G B C D F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A major pentatonic based on Raga Desh, which is commonly used in Indian film music. Positive, playful, and just a bit exotic to many Western ears.
Mixophonic (C) F G Bb C D E G Sample: mp3 | YouTube One of the two sun-filled, happy tunings currently offered; this one evokes a golden afternoon. A hexatonic version of the Mixolydian mode of C. Undeniably optimistic, yet with enough complexity to provide intrigue.
Limoncello (C) F G B C D E G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
One of the two sun-filled, happy tunings currently offered; this one evokes a bright late morning, not too hot, just right. A straight major C, strongly flavored by the major 7th (B natural). Refreshing!
Pygmy (C) F G Ab C Eb F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Darker than but similar to the Minor Pentatonic 9, with a more exotic, yearning quality.
Ake Bono (C) F G Ab C Db F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A stranger, more exotic cousin of Pygmy, with a strong Japanese feel.
Kumo (C) F G Ab C Db Eb G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A somewhat mystical and striving tuning, with hints of both Pygmy and Ake Bono, but more understated than either. The name means 'cloud' in Japanese.
Blues (C) F Ab Bb B C Eb F Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A classic variation on a minor pentatonic, with the "blue note" of the augmented fourth providing delicious tension.
Little Bear (C) F G Ab C D Eb G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A seven-tone version of our Xiao Xiong Diao, retaining its harmonic complexity, but gaining the sonic clarity of a seven-tone tuning. Strong flavors of both Pygmy and Ake Bono emerge, the latter suggested by the pattern of the upper three notes, which echoes that which defines the Ake Bono.
Big Bear (C) F G Bb C D Eb G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A seven-tone version of our Da Xiong Diao, retaining its harmonic complexity, but gaining the sonic clarity of a seven-tone tuning. As yearning as the DXD, but with a very slightly more Japanese flavor in the top notes..
Saudade (C) F G B C D Eb G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Named after the wistful melancholy at the heart of Portuguese fado music, because it also contains a unique mix of defiance, joy, loss, and ultimately peace. Unexpected and lovely, to our ears.
EIGHT-TONE CIRCLE TUNINGS
Kiavara (B) E F# G B C D# E F# Sample: mp3
(C) F G Ab C Db E F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Based on an Indian raga (Raag Kiravani), this has a strong Persian/Arabic flavor. It could be considered a harmonic minor scale with no fourth, or, an Ake Bono with an added 7th degree. Currently available only in B, which feels deeper and darker, a good fit for midnight raga it is based on.
Harmonic Minor (C) F Ab Bb C Db E F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A mode that evokes Romany (Gypsy) music and Klezmer, it has Arabic/Persian overtones though perhaps not as strong as in Kiavara. This tuning expresses a complete eight-note scale. NOTE: this tuning is not currently available.
Da Xiong Diao (C) F G Bb C D Eb F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
An uplifting combination of Shang-Diao-like Chinese major pentatonic coloration in the lower register, with yearning Pygmy overtones in the upper. The name is pronounced "Daw-Shawng Deeyow," which means "Big Bear Mode" in Mandarin.
Xiao Xiong Diao (C) F G Ab C D Eb F G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
This tuning is a more wistful, minor key cousin of "Big Bear Mode" which is only one note away from a harmonic minor-based Hijaz and our own Pygmy (adding a D natural). The name is pronounced "Shau Shawng Deeyow" ("shau" rhymes with "now"), which means "Little Bear Mode" in Mandarin.
Khyberi (C) F# G Bb C D Eb F# G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A very groove-friendly version of G harmonic minor, with the leading tone of the F# providing plenty of tension below the root G. Named for a famous pass on the southern silk road which it evokes to our ears. Strongly accented, but not monochromatic.
Tharsi (C) F G B C D Eb F# G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Named for the Thar desert in Rajasthan in northwest India, this unusual tuning combines major and minor colors in an evocative mix of joy and lament that would sound at home from the Arabian peninsula across central Asia. The second of our silk road series.
Shiraz (C) F G Ab B C D Eb G Sample: mp3 | YouTube
A wine-dark rose in a moonlit garden under old stone walls, Shiraz evokes the glory of Persia and Alhambra in equal measure. A variation on the Hijaz scale, Shiraz expresses an entire scale. A harmonic minor tuning full of unexpected joy... a very special wine indeed.
Hijazkiar (C) G Ab B C D Eb F# G Sample: mp3
Hijazkiar has an unmistakable silk road mood, evoking a warm desert wind under wheeling stars. It is perhaps our most challenging tuning, moving beyond even harmonic minor based tunings (such as Kiavara, Shiraz and Hijaz) with an additional departure from conventional Western scales. With appropriate care it can provide delicious melodic tension, but it is full of surprises that may snare the unwary...
Hijaz (B) F# G A# B C# D E F# Sample: mp3 | YouTube
Equal parts haunting beauty and maddening dissonance, and evocative at times of Flamenco or Bossa Nova (especially in a new, even lower register) Hijaz is not for the faint hearted, but in the right hands can be truly divine. The third in our silk road series, this tuning expresses a complete eight-note scale.
All of our tunings sounds different on the Halo then on a piano or other instrument, sometimes, strikingly so. Be sure to listen to the sample recordings (or other examples found online)!
We suggest you pick a tuning first and foremost based on the intuitive emotional reaction you have to recordings of (or experimentation with!) it, and not on abstract or conceptual qualities about it.
Many people (but not all) find that one or two of the tunings "call them" or "speak to them," and there is no better way to tell which instrument you will be happiest with than your own gut reaction.
If you like several tunings, or all of them, the following advice may help you decide, though.
All of the tunings we make sound good on a Halo, but some tunings are a more natural fit to the character of today's Halo.
Generally speaking, all of the seven-tone tunings offer a slightly greater sustain and clarity, and are the best choice for someone who is willing to trade harmonic complexity for the best possible timbre. The difference between a seven- and eight-tone tuning are subtle but real.
Among the Batch One eight-tone tunings, the silk road tunings Khyberi and Tharsi, and the Bear siblings Xiao Xiong Diao and Da Xiong Diao offered a combination of specific pitches and intervals that seemed particularly well-suited to the Halo, and they offered a subtle but perceptible advantage in clarity over the harmonic-minor-based Kiavara and Harmonic Minor.
The Hijaz tuning introduced a lower register (with a B center note), but the overall impression is comparable to other tunings, though the timbre changes, because the lowest note on the tone circle is actually a half step higher than almost all of our other tunings.
Generally, pentatonic tunings (such as Batch One's Pygmy, Ake Bono, and Deshvara) are the most "forgiving" in the sense that all combinations of notes will sound "right." This is mostly true of almost all our hexaphonic tunings as well, especially those with few or no half-steps within them (such as Batch One's Minor Pentatonic 9 and Mixophonic). Tunings that express a full scale (Batch One's Harmonic Minor and Hijaz) on the other hand require more care to play, as there are more combinations of notes that are dissonant.
The harmonic minor-based scales as a rule are more "closed" in the sense of not offering as many different combinations of notes to play in repeating figures; they tend to lead one to a more melodic than harmonic style of play. For example, in Batch One, Hijazkiar, a late addition, was the most 'difficult' tuning, containing even more unexpected intervals than the harmonic minor based tunings.
Remember, though, that these differences are subtle, and that we are proud of ALL of the tuning we offer. We are sure you will be pleased with a Halo tuned in any one of them, as long as it is a tuning that speaks to you!
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